July was deadliest month in a decade for vehicle fatalities in Onondaga County

Dennis Nett / The Post-StandardLindsay Thomas, 29, of Nedrow, died early on July 5 when the car in which she was riding crashed into a bridge abutment on northbound Interstate 81 in Syracuse, just north of the merge with I-481. The driver, Stephanie Campbell, 24, of Nedrow, was charged with DWI and manslaughter.

July was a deadly month for vehicle crashes on Onondaga County roads and authorities hope the spike is not a trend.

"It concerns me when anybody dies on the road," Senior Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bednarski said. "It concerns me even more when you have a month like the month of July.

"We are in a horrible stretch right now and we don't know when it will stop," he said.

Eleven people died in nine crashes in July. Based on a review of Post-Standard reports, it was the deadliest month in at least a decade.

Bednarski, the head of the prosecution's DWI bureau, said there did not appear to be any single factor behind the spike in highway deaths. "I can't say there's any trend. I don't want to say it's just bad luck because luck is not a word I want to use with this," Bednarski said.

July 2009 fatalities

July 3: Off-duty state Trooper John Gorke, 47, died when the bicycle he was riding was struck from behind by a passing car in Pompey.

July 3: Tracy Burlingame, 26, of LaFayette, died when the motorcycle she and her husband were riding crashed in Tully. Matthew Burlingame, 32, was charged with DWI.

July 5: Lindsay Thomas, 29, of Nedrow, died when the car in which she was riding crashed into a bridge abutment on Interstate 81 in Syracuse. Stephanie Campbell, 24, of Nedrow, was charged with DWI and manslaughter.

July 5: Edward Gersten, 81, of Clay, died when he turned his vehicle into the path of another vehicle in Lysander.

July 10: Gary Foster, 60, and Jacqueline Grove, 82, both of Syracuse, and Alaina Reed, 27, of Baldwinsville, died when the car Foster was driving the wrong way on Interstate 481 in Clay crashed head-on into Reed's vehicle.

July 13: Melissa LaRose, 31, of Lysander, died when she was lying in the road in Lysander and was struck.

July 15: Danny Facto, 29, of Cicero, died when the motorcycle he was riding crashed in Cicero.

July 23: Leslie Young, 45, of Pompey, died when her vehicle crashed into a rock, tree and utility pole along in Pompey.

July 25: Margaret Silkworth, 89, of Fulton, died when she drove her vehicle into the path of another vehicle in Lysander.

The prosecutor said it might be nothing more than the summer weather put more people on the road and tragedy struck more than usual.

Victims ranged in age from 26 to 89. They included two motorcyclists, a bicyclist and three people killed in one wrong-way head-on highway crash. Two of the crashes also resulted in DWI charges against surviving motorists.

"A couple involved alcohol. A couple involved inattentive driving. A couple involved elderly people turning in the path of other vehicles," Bednarski said. "We are in a horrible stretch right now and we don't know when it will stop."

The last time county authorities saw a similar spike was in September and October 2007, when eight people died on county roads in each month.

Barry Weiss, the coordinator of Onondaga County's Stop-DWI Program, said authorities would be closely watching to see if there is a trend developing that needs to be addressed. If the numbers drop again, maybe July was "just an aberration," he said.

"July was just a tragic month and August has not started out much better," Bednarski said. The county has recorded three more fatal crashes in the first week of August.